Bernard H. Stauffer v. Slenderella Systems of California, Inc., a Corporation

Stauffer brought a suit for infringement of Patent No. 2,240,679 against Slenderella Systems of California, Inc. The principal defenses were non-infringement and lack of validity of the basic patent by reason of the advances shown in the prior art. The patent in suit was granted on a “Muscle Relaxing Machine,” which purportedly relates to “mechanical means to soothe, relax, and strengthen certain of the muscular areas of the human body * * * by massage of certain of the muscles of the spinal tract.” A number of prior patents were introduced for the purpose of showing the prior art. After a hotly contested trial the District Court entered a judgment finding Claim 1 of the patent in suit invalid for lack of invention in view of the prior art. There was no determination as to whether there was infringement in view of this holding. Although the patent contains two claims, Stauffer at the trial withdrew the charge of infringement of the second.

This Court has consistently held that the question of validity of a claim of a patent is one of fact. The findings of a judge upon novelty, utility and invention are entitled to great weight when made after trial of these issues. This Court…